Data on area, harvested production, yield, and humidity of crops by country and species expressed in thousand of hectares, thousand of tonnes, kg per hectare and %, respectively.

At present Eurostat receives and publishes harmonised statistical data from 28 Member States, form the EFTA countries and from the candidate and potential candidate countries broken down in: - 17 categories and subcategories for cereals; - 29 categories and subcategories for other main crops (mainly dry pulses and protein crops, root crops industrial crops and plants harvested green from arable land); - 40 categories and subcategories for vegetables; - 41 categories and subcategories for permanent crops; - 18 categories and subcategories for the Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA).

For cereals, dry pulses, root crops, industrial crops and plants harvested green the areas refer to the area under cultivation. Area under cultivation means the area that corresponds to the total sown area, but after the harvest it excludes ruined areas (e.g. due to natural disasters). If the same land parcel is used twice in the same year, the area of this parcel can be counted twice.

For vegetables the area refers to the harvested area. For many vegetables the cropping time is short so the same area can be used several times per year. For this reason the harvested are can be much bigger than the physical area (main area).

For permanent crops the area refers to the production area. All non-productive areas are excluded (e.g. young non-productive plantations, abandoned areas, etc.).

Within industrial crops, statistics for energy crops n.e.c (non elsewhere classified) are provided. They are described as crops exclusively used for renewable energy production not elsewhere classified and grown on arable land: miscanthus (Miscanthus giganteus), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), etc. These crops can vary depending on the country. With the change of agricultural policy, it is expected that new plants used exclusively for energy production will be taken into production.

The concept of "main area" used in main land use data corresponds, in general, to the area of the land parcel. The crop/occupation linked to that area is the unique or main crop having occupied the parcel during the crop year. In the case of annual crops, the main area should correspond to the sown area. For permanent crops it refers to the to the total planted area (including non-productive plants). In the case of successive crops (mostly vegetables) it refers to the main crop that occupied the parcel during that year. These special cases are described in detail in the Handbook (Annual Crop Statistics Handbook in Annex 1).

Production means the harvested production. Harvested production means the production which is harvested and transported away from the field. It includes losses and wastage which takes place on the farm after harvest, quantities consumed directly on the farm and marketed quantities. It is indicated in units of basic product weight.

The main data sources are administrative records, surveys and expert estimates. National Statistical Institutes or Ministries of Agriculture are responsible for the national data collection in accordance with the Regulations and agreements in force. The Member States send the national data to Eurostat. Eurostat is responsible for calculation the EU-aggregates. The area aggregates are calculated by summing up the national areas delivered by the EU Member States. The production aggregates for cereals, oilseeds, dry pulses and plants harvested green are standardized to the standard EU-humidities.